Supreme Court asked to prevent military interventions

by Masood Rehman , (Last Updated January 25, 2011)

ISLAMABAD – Dr Abdul Basit, counsel for two dysfunctional judges of the Lahore High Court – Justice Shabbar Raza Rizvi and Justice Hasnat Ahmed Khan – facing contempt charges for taking oath in violation of Supreme Court orders, asked the Supreme Court on Monday to take steps to prevent military interventions in future. A four-member bench of Justices Mahmood Akhtar Shahid Siddiqui, Jawwad S Khawaja, Khilji Arif Hussain and Tariq Parvez was hearing contempt of court cases against the SC judges who took oath under the PCO, thus violating a restraining order.Dr Basit said it was not the political parties but the armed forces that had been violating the constitution time and again and it could be a conspiracy to pitch judges against judges; and the Army was looking for an opportunity to enter the corridors of power.Dr Basit said his clients came to know about the restraining order on the “second day” on PTV, which was also not authentic. He said his clients were aware of the wrath of the Army chief and the corps commander if they refused to take oath, fearing they would be made an example of. Then the court rose to reassemble today.The judges in the dock are Justice (r) Abdul Hameed Dogar, former de-facto chief justice of Pakistan; Justice (retd) Iftikhar Hussain Chaudhry, former chief justice of Lahore High Court and eight current judges – Justice Sayed Zahid Hussain of the Supreme Court and Justices Khurshid Anwar Bhinder, Hamid Ali Shah, Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, Hasnat Ahmed Khan, Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi, Yasmin Abbasey and Jehan Zaib Rahim of different high courts.26 senators move SC to become party to Reko Diq case: Twenty-six senators on Monday filed an application in the Supreme Court to become party to the petitions pending against the lease of Reko Diq mines in Balochistan to foreign exploration companies.The application was filed by senators Dr Ismail Buledi, Azam Khan Swati, Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, Hafiz Abdur Rasheed and others under Article 184(3) of the constitution.The applicants stated that since the Reko Diq project involved national interest, they being citizens of Pakistan should be made party to the case, so that they might be able to inform the court about their reservations on the project.They said handing over the Reko Diq project to foreign companies was not only against national interests, but also a threat to the national security.Meanwhile, another application was filed by Mehmadzai tribe of Balochistan to become party to the case. The application filed through Raja Abdur Rehman claimed that Mehmadzai tribe was the actual owner of the Reko Diq area. Earlier, the Sanjrani tribe had filed an application claming ownership of Reko Diq area.The three-member bench of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Muhammad Sair Ali and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday will resume hearing the case today (Tuesday).The court will also examine the reply submitted by Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), the foreign company involved in the project, to a contempt of court notice issued to it on January 17 for launching an advertisement campaign regarding the Reko Diq project, despite the matter being sub-judice.The court would also examine the replies by the federal and Balochistan governments to the main petition filed by Tariq Asad against the lease of Reko Diq.